


Help, Please!

by DS_Blxck



Series: The Tales of the Daltons' Adopted Sister [4]
Category: Les Dalton | The Daltons (Cartoon), Les Nouvelles Aventures de Lucky Luke | The New Adventures of Lucky Luke (Cartoon), Lucky Luke (Bande Dessinée)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Adopted Younger Sister, Because they suit him, Big Brothers, Brother-Sister Relationships, Essays, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Frustration, Homework, Homeworks Suck, I wrote this instead of studying, Little Sisters, Middle School, One Shot, Other, School, School is a pain, Sibling Bonding, The Daltons are literate, William wears glasses, big brother william, older brother
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:33:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27218704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DS_Blxck/pseuds/DS_Blxck
Summary: Avianna is trying to write an essay for her English class but she's having difficulties doing so. William notices that and sits down to help her out with it.ONE-SHOT.
Relationships: William Dalton & Original Character(s)
Series: The Tales of the Daltons' Adopted Sister [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1616005
Kudos: 1





	Help, Please!

**Author's Note:**

> I had to research a little bit how the school system works in the US because, as a Canadian, I didn't have much knowledge of it. XD Avianna is in 6th grade since she’s 11 years old (and born in the middle of September), so it’s already middle school in the US (unlike in Canada which is the last year of elementary). William is 23 in this.

Avianna was absentmindedly chewing on her lower lip as she copied her essay question onto a blank piece of paper. This particular assignment was asking her to identify the main theme of the short fiction that she had to read for her English class, and explain why it is. She frowned at the question as her dislike of it grew by the second. She hated these kinds of assignments because she never knew what exactly to write. Also, her understanding of stories and other texts she had to read for her class always differed from her classmates’, therefore she always brought home mediocre grades even if her arguments happened to be valid. Her teacher didn’t accept any other opinions other than hers and she had the strict expectation that everyone should follow it. It has frustrated Avianna to no end and it was the main reason why English has become her least favourite subject this year. 

The girl began scribbling down clues from the text that could help her identify the theme, starting with the protagonists’ point of view and actions. However, when she moved onto the antagonists’ side of the story, she found that her previous points did not make sense. She glared at her paper before rereading the narrative for what seemed like the tenth time. She draw a diagonal line on her previous points and started anew. The same problem occurred. Avianna huffed a frustrated breath. Why did that hag feel the need to assign such a nonsensical text with such redundant words? And on top of that, since the story was only an excerpt from a bigger text, it didn’t even have a beginning and a conclusion!

“Stupid, stupid, stupid…” Avianna muttered under her breath as she slapped the excerpt onto her wooden desk. 

She began chewing on the end of her pencil as she reread a paragraph in the middle, her concentration beginning to wane. After half an hour of alternating between reading and writing, she still hasn’t spotted the perfect theme that would fit to all the characters and the situations they are in. Avianna threw her hands up in the air, having had more than enough of turning in circles and constantly doubting her answer whenever she came up with something. 

“I hate this stupid piece of crap!!” she exclaimed. 

She then buried her face in her hands and let out a loud growl of frustration. Distantly, she heard a pair of footsteps approaching her location but she was too tired and fed up to pay any attention to it. 

“Avianna, what’s going on?” came a voice from behind her. 

The young girl whirled around in her chair, only to come face to face with William who was standing by her open bedroom door, looking utterly worried and flabbergasted.

“Is everything alright?” the young man continued, noticing his young sister’s pout.

“No”, Avianna muttered, shooting a glare at the two offending sheets. “Stupid essay…”

William’s expression softened. 

“Ah, I see”, he smiled. “I take it you need some help?”

Avianna nodded, only fractionally brightening up at the offer. 

“Please”, she whispered. 

Her brother smiled.

“Absolutely”, he nodded. “Hang on, I’ll be right back.”

William walked out of the room, only to come back not even a minute later with a chair that he set right beside where Avianna was seated. He then closed the door to give them a quieter environment. Joe and their mother have begun to argue once again and the last thing the middle school student needed was another source of distraction. William sat down in front of the desk and pushed his rectangular glasses up his nose. 

“So, what do you have to do?” he asked with interest. 

Avianna slid the paper with the story and the instructions closer to him so he could read it as well.

“I have to spot the theme of the story and explain why and what makes it the theme”, she explained. “But I can’t because whenever I find something it doesn’t match the overall story because this character does this and the other that and it’s not the same and the wording is just moronic and–”

“Avianna, breathe!” William interrupted, laughing, while holding a hand up to placate her.

His sister huffed and crossed her arms, pouting again. That made her brother chuckle again and he ruffled her hair in fond amusement.

“It’s ok, we’re going to figure this out”, he smiled. “Don’t worry about it.”

Avianna nodded and attempted to smooth her hair down.

“When is this due?” William asked abruptly, halfway through his reading.

“Erm… tomorrow…” the young girl replied, beginning to feel a little sheepish. 

Her brother looked at her from the corner of his eyes. 

“And when was this assigned?” he asked, having an idea of another reason why she was so frustrated with her homework.

Oh, Avianna was _definitely_ embarrassed now, he could see the faint flush of her cheeks. William raised an eyebrow. 

“A week ago?” came the reply. 

The older Dalton sighed and passed a hand on his face, careful not to knock his glasses askew.

“Avianna, how many times did I tell you to not leave your assignments to the last minute?” he asked, looking back at her.

“I know, I’m sorry, but you know how much I hate this stupid class!” his sister whined.

William put a comforting hand on her shoulder. 

“I know, sis, I know”, he said softly. “But it’s all the reason you need to start doing your homework for that subject as soon as you receive it! That way you won’t need to think about it until your next class! The same thing goes for your other subjects as well, of course. Besides, leaving things to right before the deadline does nothing to help you. It only creates unnecessary stress for you that can easily be avoided.” 

Avianna cast her eyes down and nodded.

“You’re right”, she sighed. “I’m sorry, Will.”

William smiled.

“It’s alright. Now, let me help you figure this out.”

He finished reading the story before going over what Avianna has written on her paper. There was a specific sentence that got his attention and he grinned to himself when he realized that it was what seemed to be the correct answer for the question.

“You had it right, kiddo”, he spoke up. 

His sister looked at him with a mixture of confusion and disbelief. 

“What?”

William looked pleased.

“Look”, he started, pointing at the sentence. “Right here. Revenge suits the story perfectly for both characters and their actions. That’s the theme!”

“But… what about the main character?” Avianna interjected. “He was just describing the scene and what he witnessed before! He didn’t have any desire to avenge his father’s death.”

“Not right away, no. However, the final sentence informs us that he’s beginning to plan how he can make the antagonist pay.” 

The young girl bent forward to read those particular words.

“Oh, so that’s what ‘devising’ means?” she inquired. 

William nodded, grinning.

“Exactly! That is the moment when the desire fully sinks in within him. The antagonist killed his father out of revenge because he has arrested him multiple times and thus thwarting his plans, and now the protagonist himself is out for the same quest.”

He chuckled again at Avianna’s “ohhhh” as the pieces of the puzzle finally came together.

“See?” he nudged her. “I told you we’d figure it out!”

Avianna was now positively beaming.

“Yes!” she exclaimed. “Thank you, William!”

She slid out of her chair and threw her arms around his neck in a tight embrace, which William more than happily returned.

“Anytime, Avi”, he answered. “Do you need any help writing your final copy?” he added when his sister returned to her seat. 

“Thanks, but I think I’m good” she said.

“Alright”, her brother nodded before standing up. “I’ll be in the living room, call me if you need anything.”

“Yep!” came the half-distracted response. 

Even if she now couldn’t see it, as engrossed in her essay as she was, William shot her a warm smile before quietly closing the door behind him. As he stepped into the living room, he was relieved to see that the argument that was previously taking place has died down, replaced by a comfortable silence that hung between Jack, who was reading a newspaper on the couch, and Ma who was busy flipping through a recipe book to figure out next week’s menu plan. William’s twin brother looked up when he entered and raised an eyebrow. 

“Avianna?” he guessed.

William chuckled.

“Yeah, she needed help with her English essay”, he explained.

Jack grimaced in sympathy, recalling the numerous times their youngest sibling has complained to them about the subject and her “old hag” of a teacher. Ma has scolded her for directing such words towards another person, but has shared her sentiment after meeting the teacher once for the mandatory parent-teacher meeting.

“I don’t envy her in the slightest” Jack chuckled. “How did it go?”

“Very well! She already had it figured out, although she didn’t realize it. She simply needed a little push in the right direction. She was already writing madly away when I left.”

His twin grinned before burying himself back into his article.

****

In the end, Avianna had only called William back for help once to proofread her paper and make sure that her opinion was structured and well summarized.

A couple of days passed before she received her work back, now graded, but when she did, she wasted no time in showing her result to her family. William was positively glowing with pride as his eyes fell on the red circled A- that now occupied the upper right corner of the paper. He had tightly embraced his sister, who was bouncing from happiness. Even if she didn’t elaborate enough on the antagonists’ feelings based on her teacher, causing the older woman to dock a few points from her otherwise perfect writing, it didn’t manage to get Avianna’s joy away from the fact that she finally managed to get a good result in this class. All thanks to William’s help. Maybe the rest of the year won’t be as bad as she believed it would be.


End file.
